Matiur Rahman Chowdhury

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury
Born
💼 Occupation	Journalist
👩 Spouse(s)	Mahbuba Chowdhury
👶 Children	Mehzeb Chowdhury
🏅 Awards	Ananda Alo Purashkar

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi journalist, editor and talk-show host. He is the editor-in-chief of Manab Zamin, a Bangla tabloid newspaper. He also reports for Voice of America (Bangla). He hosts a late night chat-show, Ajker Sangbadpatra, on Channel i, a privately owned broadcast channel.

He serves as the treasurer of Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) and member of Editors' Council, an organisation of newspaper editors. Chowdhury is a member of the governing body of Association for Social Advancement, a microcredit financing organisation. He edited now-defunct Bangla Bazar Patrika, a broadsheet newspaper based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Chowdhury participated in Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and was tortured by Pakistan Army in his native Moulvibazar District.

Personal life

Chowdhury is married to Mahbuba Chowdhury, a poet, journalist, and news presenter. Their only son, Mehzeb Chowdhury, is a barrister and a forensic science and criminal investigation researcher.

Career

Chowdhury began his career in journalism as a correspondent with Daily Banglar Bani, co-founded and edited by Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, a nephew of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding father, shortly after the country became independent, according to an article he wrote for Manab Zamin. Having obtained the university degree, he soon became a staff reporter at Banglar Bani. In 1974, he was fired from the paper allegedly on the instruction of the authorities, according to a short biography.

He later worked at Purba Desh, Daily Desh Bangla as chief reporter, and then The Sangbad. In 1980, he got his press accreditation revoked by the government. In 1982, he joined The Daily Ittefaq, where he worked as its diplomatic correspondent for 10 years. He covered the Gulf War for Ittefaq from Hafar Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia. As the first Bangladeshi journalist, he covered 1990 FIFA World Cup and interviewed Diego Maradona. In the early nineties, he joined Ajker Kagoj as associate editor but resigned shortly afterwards. In 1994, he founded Bangla Bazar Patrika as its editor. The same year he was sent to prison. The next year, he joined Voice of America as a correspondent—a role he still retains.

In 1997, he founded Manab Zamin, the first ever Bangla tabloid newspaper, as its editor-in-chief. In 2000, Manab Zamin ran the transcript of an alleged phone conversation between Hussain Muhammad Ershad, a former president, and a High Court judge, Latifur Rahman, who was overseeing the former's graft case. The publication of the recording triggered a judicial investigation, leading to the judge's resignation. The court also held Chowdhury and Ershad for contempt of court and awarded them one and six months of prison sentences respectively. Chowdhury was also a stringer for Daily Mail, Jugantar Patrika, Sangbad Pratidin, etc. Chowdhury hosted Frontline, a news show, on Banglavision, a privately owned broadcaster, for five years until its closure in February 2015. While the channel chairman said it was due to "technical problems," Chowdhury and other journalists claimed authorities were behind the closure for "political reasons."

Politics

Chowdhury was elected vice president of Moulvibazar College student union. He was associated with Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh Awami League, and acted as the organisation's central books and publications secretary. Those who served in the same committee of Chhatra League include Obaidul Quader, Sayed Ashraful Islam, AKM Jahangir Hossain, Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, R. A. M. Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury.

Books

Chowdhury published three books: Inside Politics, Palashi Theke Baghdad, Kutnitir Andarmahal.

References

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